AboutJames Middleton Expertise I am happy answering questions about handling stress and panic attacks, overwork and similar problems.
Experience I am a practicing hypnotherapist of 18 years experience and a qualified Occupational Therapist in community mental health.
Organizations belong to Council for Professions Supplementary to Medicine, Member of the National Register of Advanced Hypnotherapists, Full member of ANLP.
Publications UK Journal of Association for Neurolinguistic Processing.
Education/Credentials Dip Cot, Certificate in Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy, Certificate in Co-counselling, Reiki 1, Reiki 2, and Reiki Masters. Practitioner of NLP
Awards and Honors WARP Freefall Coach for the British Parachute Association.
I'm not sure where to start this. I guess I should start from when this started. I'm 17 now. When I was 13 I was hospitalized for a week for depression b/c I had tried to kill myself (actually I wasn't *really* trying but thats how my parents took it) b/c I was just so depressed. At the time I didn't have much of a reason to (never any physical or sexual abuse) but I was really overweight and my dad, my brother and a bunch of kids at school made fun of me alot. I felt like I couldn't relate to anyone. Many people said "oh it's just a phase etc." At the time I was also having anxiety/panic attacks. I was in counseling for about 6 months and on zoloft for almost a year. I went off the zoloft and they put me on birth control pills because they thought it might be a temporary imbalance in my hormones (I think thats the reason) I was on birth control off and on for almost 4 years. Depression and anxiety came and went. There's a lot going on in my life right now and I'm having a very difficult time dealing with it and I was just wondering if there was any advice or tips you could give me. The things that are going on now are: I'm homeschooled and trying to finish high school (I have to get all my senior credits), I'm having to pay for my car and school. I'm getting married this October. My family and my parents have been fighting a great deal over the past 3 weeks and my day consists of working from 8-4, doing school work, doing house work and trying to maintain my love life in the afternoons/evenings. I feel that all these things have been causing a lot of stress and because of the stress my health is getting really bad. I already have a slight heart condition, I've had a few anxiety attacks over the past month, my hands start shaking some time for no apparent reason, from time to time I bust a vein in my eye and my migraines are becoming more frequent and severe (I was also diagnosed around the age of 13 as having migraine/tension headaches) I was in physical therapy for quite some time with it. I know that I've told you so much and you may not be able to help me but I think that to get the best advice from anyone you need to include a lot of details. Thank you for listening and I really appreciate your time even if you can't help.
Ashley
Answer Ashley,
Thank you for a very comprehensive outline of your difficulties.
There are several steps you can take.
Finding time to relax on a regular daily basis, using a good self hypnosis tape, or relaxation tape is a good beginning. A place to start might be www.creativechanges.co.uk
Recognising that the body is simply trying to give you messages about how stressed you are, by making you panic, is a reminder that you need to deal with this.
As you progress, you will find your panics reducing, and feeling fitter than you have for some time.
If you feel after a month or so, improvements are not occuring as fast as you'd like, then finding a good counsellor or stress therapist would be a good step.
Finding more information about stress is also helpful.
You could visit www.helpishere.co.uk which outlines all you would need to know.
Good luck for the future, and any further questions, just give me a shout.
